Former President Goodluck Jonathan, has narrated his experience during his visit to the dreaded militant Camp in the creeks of the Niger Delta without armed guard despite objections from security agencies.

Jonathan spoke on Monday at a two-day event with theme: Through The Python’s Eye: 70 Years of Oil Production in Nigeria”, organised by an environmental advocacy group, The Mangrove Conversations, in collaboration with the Bayelsa State government, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Renaissance Africa Energy Company and the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation in Yenagoa, Bayelsa Capital.

Goodluck Jonathan visited the dreaded militant Camp 5 in Delta State as Vice President in 2007.

Specifically, on June 28, 2007, he traveled to the creek den without armed security details to confer with ex-militant leader Government Ekpemupolo (alias Tompolo) and other agitators, a move that eventually laid the groundwork for the Niger Delta peace negotiations and the amnesty program.

Jonathan, then Vice President, recalled that his trip to Warri, Delta State to negotiate with militants paved the way for amnesty and subsequent peace in the region.

According to him, the decision helped build trust and paved the way for dialogue that eventually contributed to the peace process and the implementation of the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme.

He said the development of the Niger Delta must remain a national priority, adding that lasting peace in the region depends on addressing environmental degradation and decades of neglect.

His words, “As the vice president, I was to go and negotiate to bring peace to the Niger Delta. And I was to visit all the camps, including Camp One that you all know very well who headed it, all the boys disturbing all facilities, respected those in Camp One,

“As a vice president, I flew to Warri. When we got to the other water front, the Niger Delta militants sent words across to me that they were ready to receive me, but nobody should carry gun and follow me and that if any of my team members carried a weapon, there will be exchange of gunfire.

“So, the Commissioner of Police in Delta State said, ‘Mr Vice President, you will not go.’ The State Director of SSS said, ‘Sir, you will not go.’ I told them I will go. There must be peace and development in the Niger Delta.

“As the vice president, I said anybody wearing uniform should follow me to the militants camp, only my CSO and my ADC followed. I ordered CSO and ADC to handover their guns to the Commissioner of Police and state director of State Security Service respectively to keep. I told them if we come back alive, you get your guns back and we will go back to Abuja

“When we arrived at the camp, there were two lines of young people at the jetty, one facing this way, the other one facing this way with assorted riffles.

“From there, they lined up on both sides to where we were holding the meeting, we passed in-between the two lines, we moved through them, of course that’s a story for another day.

“When we had the negotiation that lasted about one and a half hour, then we returned to Abuja and things started to unfold, that meeting led to the birth of Amnesty granted to the Niger Delta militants, and other things, Amnesty is still there till today. That was the beginning of peace in the Niger Delta region.” (The Nation)